Jeanette Kwakye
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||
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| Born | London Borough of Waltham Forest, England, March 20, 1983 | ||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight | 61 kg (134 lb) | ||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||
| Country |
 Great Britain
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| Club | Woodford Green with Essex Ladies | ||||||||||||
| Turned pro | 2005 | ||||||||||||
| Retired | 2014 | ||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||
| World finals | 2008 Indoor – 2nd | ||||||||||||
| Olympic finals | 2008 – 6th | ||||||||||||
| Highest world ranking |
60 m: 2 (2008) 100 m: 9 (2008) 200 m: 45 (2007) |
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| Personal best(s) |
60 m 7.08 100 m 11.14 200 m 23.11 |
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Medal record
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| Updated on August 17, 2008. | |||||||||||||
Jeanette Boahemaa Kwakye (pronounced kwah-chee) is a retired British sprinter.
Kwakye won a bronze medal in the 4x100 metres relay at the 2002 World Junior Championships, with teammates Jade Lucas-Read, Amy Spencer and Vernicha James. At the 2007 European Indoor Championships she finished fourth in the 60 metres. In the semi-final she recorded a time of 7.17 seconds, this being the fastest time by a British woman in the 60m since 1986.
Kwakye, became the 2007 British Champion over 100m in a time of 11.59, beating Laura Turner (who recorded the same time) and defending champion Joice Maduaka. The next day, she also won the 200m title, after beating Emily Freeman and Donna Fraser, who took silver and bronze, respectively.
In the 2008 IAAF World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Kwakye equalled the British 60m record of 7.13 by Beverly Kinch in her semi-final before breaking it with a 7.08 run to claim silver behind American Angela Williams who won in 7.06, this placing Kwakye as number 2 in the 2008 world female rankings.
On 12 July 2008, Kwakye defended her British 100m title, whilst also winning the Olympic trials, and was accordingly automatically selected to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Her time of 11.26 equalled her then lifetime best.
In the heats of the 100 metres, Kwakye finished in second place behind Torri Edwards, clocking a time of 11.30 seconds, allowing her to progress through to the quarter-final stage. In the quarter-final, she was beaten to the line by Shelly-Ann Fraser and Evgeniya Polyakova, but still qualified for the semi-final by finishing in third place. In the semi-final on 17 August 2008, Kwakye finished third, with a time of 11.19. She became the first British woman to reach the 100 metres final since Heather Oakes in 1984. At these Olympics, Kwakye was also the only European athlete to appear in the final. In the final, she clocked 11.14, a personal best, to finish in sixth place, ahead of Debbie Ferguson-McKenzie of the Bahamas and Torri Edwards of the USA.
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